The Swedish model and the future of labour standards after Laval

This article reflects on the European Court of Justice ruling in the case of Laval, involving Latvian posted workers in Sweden. It analyses the implications of the ruling and ensuing debate over the Laval case for the future of the ‘Swedish model’ and labour standards. It suggests that profound dilemmas now face trade unions both at Swedish national and European level as to appropriate strategies to adopt to defend national pay and working conditions in the light of the European Court decision and especially in the Swedish context due to the subsequent ruling by the Swedish Labour Court. Nevertheless, a human rights discourse is emerging in which the European Court of Human Rights may act as a counterbalance to the European Court of Justice, especially in the context of the Lisbon Treaty.     

Why Not Adopt Better Institutions?

Abstract

How much growth do (economic and legal) institutions cause? To quantify this effect, we adapted the baseline regression in Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson's (2002, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(4), pp. 1231–1294) seminal work on the causal relationship between the quality of institutions and differences in modern-day income levels was adapted. We found that improving institutional quality by one standard deviation increased a country's average annual growth rate by only 0.4% from 1820 to 1995.     

Innovation and price: the case of digital cameras

This study examines a hedonic regression model of digital camera prices using data collected from an internet price comparison service. We find that a small number of product characteristics explains most of the variation in camera prices. In addition, the model demonstrates substantial downward pressure on camera prices during the time period considered. We also examine technological innovation shocks to determine their impact on product prices. We find that the corresponding price reaction exhibits gradual adjustment over time, providing evidence of some degree of anticipation of the innovation, as well as a post-innovation price shock. This study also demonstrates the power of web-based shopping services as a new and novel source of data for econometric analysis.     

Solving the startup problem in Western mobile Internet markets

This paper describes the evolution of the mobile Internet in terms of three concepts: the startup problem, standard setting, and mental models. Products in which there is little or no value to the first users due to the existence of strong direct (e.g., telephone) or indirect (complementary products) network effects face a large startup problem. This paper divides the startup problem for the mobile Internet into two stages. Japanese and later other service providers solved the first startup problem with entertainment content that was supported by a micro-payment system (service providers collect and pass on content fees to content providers) and custom phones that displayed this content in a consistent manner.     

Stakeholders,reciprocity, and firm performance

The assumption that economic actors behave in a boundedly self‐interested manner promises fruitful new insights for strategic management. A growing literature spanning multiple disciplines indicates most actors' selfish utility maximizing behaviors are bounded by norms of fairness. Rather than being purely self‐interested, people behave reciprocally by rewarding others whose actions they deem fair and willingly incurring costs to punish those they deem unfair. Economists show that employers who are perceived as distributionally fair by their employees generate comparatively more value due to the positively reciprocal behavior of those employees. The organizational justice literature distinguishes two additional types of fairness assessed by employees. Drawing from both these bodies of work, we employ stakeholder theory to propose how perceptions of fairness result in reciprocity (1) extending to all stakeholders of the firm and (2) affecting firm performance. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Occupation-specific human capital and local labour markets

Most skills acquired through on-the-job training may be specificto an occupation and therefore transferable to some but notall firms. This paper explores the relationship between thesize of the local market for an occupation-specific skill andjob-training outcomes. The Stevens (1994) model of trainingpredicts that as market size increases, job turnover increasesand training becomes more general. I test these predictionsusing data on blue-collar workers and variation in market sizeacross US metropolitan areas. The empirical results supportthe theoretical predictions and the impacts are most relevantat low levels of market size.     

Environmental self-regulation for sustainable development: Can internal carbon pricing enhance financial performance?

Internal carbon pricing is an innovative self-regulation mechanism where companies set their own carbon prices on business operations to mitigate climate risk and achieve sustainable development. While internal carbon pricing has gained popularity among multinational enterprises, its firm-level impact is underexplored. This research provides novel theoretical and empirical evidence on how the internal carbon price as a cost component can contribute to profitability growth. We construct a panel dataset of 132 multinational enterprises across Europe, North America, and Asia by tracking their use of internal carbon pricing from 2013 to 2017 based on their records at the Carbon Disclosure Project. To address endogeneity bias, we employ propensity score matching method on a fixed-effects model. Results indicate that using internal carbon pricing can increase return on assets by 1.1%. Firms with internal carbon prices are more likely to reduce cost of goods sold to improve return on assets. Our study suggests that internal carbon pricing as environmental self-regulation can generate profitability gains through cost reduction. The research also points out the potential of voluntary internal carbon pricing to complement command-and-control carbon pricing regulations.     

Managing Telework Programs Effectively

Telework has greatly increased in both popularity and use in recent years. The original impetus behind telework has shifted over the years away from social responsibility as employers have come to realize the significant benefits they can reap from a well-designed and implemented telework program. Despite the well-documented environmental, societal, employer and employee benefits associated with telework, telework changes the nature of the employer–employee relationship and can have some detrimental effects on an organizations if not implemented strategically. This paper explores the prevalence of and benefits and limitations associated with telework and provides recommendations as to how to most effectively implement telework.